Practice creche will cover long hours

Dr Bapi Biswas is setting up a creche with his practice staff to care for their 10 children while they are at work.

Dr Biswas said the practice had been forced into the move because of the difficulty in finding nursery care that covers the surgery's long and unsocial opening hours.

'Current creches do not cater for the vagaries of primary care,' he said. 'Now if they are under our control we won't get an earful if we are 10 minutes late.'

Dr Biswas and his partners at the practice in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, are putting up £5,000 each in start-up costs. They expect monthly costs to be £3,000 for three staff members plus £1,500 in rent, rates and insurance.